Brandon Oroxon's element of surprise on the field: His compact size

@latsondheimerRT @billoram: So sad to hear OC native Stanley Johnson's mother has died. @Lindsay_Schnell nailed the story of that relationship http://t.c…

Brandon Oroxon makes believers at Lincoln

Brandon Oroxon is Mighty Tiger at 5-3, 130 pounds

Brandon Oroxon is Mighty Tiger at 5-3, 130 pounds

Los Angeles Lincoln High's Brandon Oroxon is small by football standards, but just watch him go

At 5-3 and 130 pounds, Brandon Oroxon of Los Angeles Lincoln High is a star on his varsity football team

When you first get a glimpse of 5-foot-3, 130-pound Brandon Oroxon, you'd never guess he plays football. Then you'd never believe he was the Northern League offensive player of the year last season as a junior wide receiver at Los Angeles Lincoln High.

Lincoln linemen don't need to lift weights when Oroxon is around. They just put him on their shoulders for a good workout.

He has come a long way since entering high school weighing 95 pounds. His big accomplishment was getting his mother to let him play tackle football in seventh grade.

"My mom tells me, 'Don't give guys any chance to hurt you, because I don't want to see you lying down in a hospital bed with something broken,'" he said.

Oroxon spends hours in the weight room improving his strength to help him avoid injuries. He said he can lift 205 pounds. Combine that with his exceptional speed and you begin to understand how he can be a pest for opposing teams.

"Anyone who sees him walk on the field would probably snicker and say, 'What's he going to do and how dangerous a player could he be?'" Coach Albert Carrillo said. "When he gets that quick screen and makes a move to the right and makes a move to the left, then he's off to the races and makes opponents become believers that he is a weapon."

Stafon Johnson, looking a little bigger than he did in his playing days as a standout running back at Dorsey High and USC, still knows how to twirl a football and show off his hand-eye coordination for his teenage pupils hoping to run and score touchdowns the way he used to do.

There should be confetti, party hats and maybe even cake to celebrate the return to football practice this week of running backs Leo Lambert III of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Malik Roberson of Gardena Serra after each sat out the 2013 season because of serious medical issues.

There were 26 pitchers in baseball's 300-save club before Wednesday, an elite group headed by a right-hander who had the game's most devastating cut fastball (Mariano Rivera), another who had one of baseball's best changeups (Trevor Hoffman), and a left-hander who threw 98 mph (Billy Wagner).